For his latest subdivision in downtown Tucson, Miller is trying to do it all, building homes that blend easily into the historic Armory Park neighborhood, meet stringent energy efficiency standards and offer designs that work equally well for enabled and disabled residents.
The 99-home Armory Park del Sol, under construction on former railroad property east of Third Avenue, is being promoted as the place where historic meets high-tech. By combining passive and active solar technology, the homes are guaranteed by Tucson Electric Power to use less than 76 cents a day in electric energy.
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"Our average home keeps 21,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year out of the atmosphere, and we have 50 homes now completed. So, we have a million pounds of carbon dioxide not going into the air because of these homes," Miller said.
For this effort, Miller received the 2005 Builder of the year award from the U.S. Department of Energy's EnergyValue Housing Award.
José and Marcialla Reyes live in a home that's intended to do even better with a design intended to provide comfortable living with a net-zero energy use. A retired engineer whose company manufactured high-pressure hoses for oil exploration and aircraft vacuum toilets, José Reyes said he appreciated the technology in the demonstration home that permits him to generate enough electricity to meet his annual consumption of 7,000 KwH, which is less than half of a normal home's 18,000 KwH usage.
"Everything has met our expectations as far as it was assigned to perform," he said. "There has been some tuning and adjustment, but we've gotten very close to what we expected. Certainly, the power bills do the talking," Reyes said. "We pull a little bit of load during the winter and summer, but over a 12-month period, we generate as much as we use."
Miller said he's pleased with the success of the homes in meeting conservation goals, but energy efficiency alone isn't good enough. "Accessibility is also an issue. One of the things we wanted was a sense of community, and one aspect of that is being able to visit your neighbors. The people who've bought here are an eclectic group, but the design gives them a sense of community."
Part of that commitment to community is expressed in a street design that faces front doors along a pedestrian walkway, with the garages facing rear to the street, copying a British model, Miller said.
The other part is designing the homes to be equally accessible to anyone, including the handicapped.
"Several years ago, I started building homes that were specifically intended to be wheelchair accessible," he said. "From that experience I began to appreciate the difference in the quality of life for the handicapped if you make simple changes, like building in 36-inch doors and four-foot hallways with no steps, inside or out."
Not just the handicapped can appreciate the change, Miller said. Wider doors and hallways are more comfortable for everyone, as are three-inch lower countertops and cabinets and a two-inch elevation of the toilet seat.
"I have a five-foot-two mother who appreciates it," he said. Two or three inches are enough to make a huge difference for the handicapped, but it doesn't adversely affect anyone else. Everybody is able to benefit from these changes."
While the accessibility was a major factor in favor of the development for homeowners Ed Kitchem and Laura Brynwood, who are both handicapped, the design of the homes and their relationship to the surrounding neighborhood was crucial.
"I've worked in downtown since 1985 but didn't seriously consider living here because I felt it was run down," she said. "However, we fell in love with the model home, not just in its appearance but the quality and character of the homes and how well they blended into the character of this historic neighborhood."
By matching the surrounding neighborhood in design and density, the Armory Park del Sol has improved the neighborhood without changing it. "It's raised property values and encouraged neighboring property owners to invest in improvements, but it still feels like its part of the whole Armory Park neighborhood rather than something apart from it."
The success of the development will ultimately be determined by how well it can be integrated into the surrounding community, Miller said.
"Before we started anything, I had our artist walk the old neighborhood and said bring me back a picture of how my neighborhood can blend in, to build it up. As a result, we've had some people who've thought that some of our houses had always been here. I think of that as the nicest compliment I could have received.
"When you look at sustainability, you have to look at not just things like energy use or materials, you have to look at culture because that is what sustains a neighborhood," Miller said. "You becoming part of the community and make it better."
Philip S. Moore may be contacted at pmoore@azbiz.com or at (520) 295-4238.
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